IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
| Kilshaw, K.; Johnson, P.J.; Kitchener, A.C.; MacDonald, D.W. | |
| Detecting the elusive Scottish wildcat _Felis silvestris silvestris_ using camera trapping | |
| 2015 Oryx (49): 207-215 | |
Population monitoring is important for conservation management but difficult to achieve for rare, cryptic species. Reliable information about the Critically Endangered Scottish wildcat _Felis silvestris silvestris_ is lacking because of difficulties in morphological and genetic identification, resulting from extensive hybridization with feral domestic cats _Felis catus_. We carried out camera-trap surveys in the Cairngorms National Park, UK, to examine the feasibility of camera trapping, combined with a pelage identification method, to monitor Scottish wildcats. Camera trapping detected individually identifiable wildcats. Of 13 individual wild-living cats, four scored as wildcats based on pelage characters and the rest were wildcat x domestic cat hybrids. Spatially explicit capture-recapture density estimation methods generated a density of wild-living cats (wildcats and hybrids) of 68.17 ñ SE 9.47 per 100 km2. The impact of reducing trapping-grid size, camera-trap numbers and survey length on density estimates was investigated using spatially explicit capture-recapture models. Our findings indicate camera trapping is more effective for monitoring wildcats than other methods currently used and capture success could be increased by using bait, placing camera stations < 1.5 km apart, increasing the number of camera stations, and surveying for 60-70 days. This study shows that camera trapping is effective for confirming the presence of the wildcat in potential target areas for conservation management. |
|
 |
PDF files are only accessible to Friends of the Cat Group. Joining Friends of the Cat Group gives you unlimited access and downloads in the Cat SG Library for one year, and allows you to receive our newsletter Cat News (2 regular issues per year plus special issues). More information how to join here |
(c) IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group ( IUCN - The World Conservation Union) |